Richard Oliver: Valley of the stun

Express-News columnist Richard Oliver is in Phoenix for the Western Conference semifinals series between the Suns and Spurs:

Where’s the heat, Suns?

Steve Nash wants to know. Again yesterday, he questioned his teammates’ desire, especially against a seasoned Spurs team.

“I’m at a loss for why we think we can go out there and not out-hustle and out-work them to win games,” Nash said after practice. “All any team has at the end of the day is how hard they work and how bad they want it. We want it really bad for a long period of time, and then we let up for a couple plays.”

“Meanwhile, the Suns wrapped up close to the scheduled time and interviews began,” Arizona Republic beat writer Paul Coro reports in his daily blog. “Mike D’Antoni was tight-lipped about changes, only hinting that there would be some tinkering with the amount of minutes certain players get in. Minutes later, Amare Stoudemire was telling reporters that Kurt Thomas was going to start Game 2. Stat probably could not help himself because he loves Dirty and has been pining to play more with him all season.

“Now, the Suns’ problem became that the Spurs instantly learned of this because that was the focus of several questions to Gregg Popovich and Spurs players. Had the schedule been kept, San Antonio may not have heard about Stoudemire’s leak but that is unlikely with the local media coverage. Had the Suns coaches told their players to keep quiet on the changes, it definitely could have been a game-night surprise.”

 Former Suns star Dan Majerle was a pretty good shooter. Hey, he still is. This is amazing.

 Phoenix fans have some pretty good blog sites. Check them out here and here.

Lap of Luxury

Michael Lamanna, the former director of instruction at the Academy at La Cantera, now mans a similar post at the luxurious Phoenician Resort in nearby Scottsdale. Michael and his wife, Kelly, who has family in the area, moved to Arizona roughly six months ago, and have loved the change.

It’s easy to see why. On a driving tour of the 27-hole golf complex at the Starwood resort, where rooms run from $500 to into the thousands per night, Lamanna pointed out breathtaking views from several elevated tee boxes yesterday. At one hole, players can pause over their drives to see a 180-panorama of beauty, from the Superstition Mountains in the distance to a wide valley populated by homes, casinos, varied businesses and blooming Saguaro cactus.

“La Cantera was a great place to work, especially the people,” Lamanna said. “But this place is something else.”

Part of it is personal for Michael, as well. He has family scattered throughout the West, as well.

Kelly Lamanna will return to San Antonio next fall, however. She’s the media coordinator for the AT&T Championship at Oak Hills Country Club.

At the 19th Hole, where we had lunch, the waitresses were avid Suns fans. The opening loss to the Spurs cast the only shadow over their sunny dispositions. Lamanna said that wasn’t unusual.

“San Antonio has a little more of a small-town flair to it, and I mean that in a good way,” he said. “It’s a close-knit community in a lot of ways. There’s more passion about the Spurs, but make no mistake, there is passion here about the Suns.”

The difference? “There is more of a core of permanent residents there (in San Antonio),” he said. “So many people live half a year here, then go somewhere else.”